Wednesday, November 27, 2019

New Mixed-Use Development to Rise in Jersey City

 New Jersey-based developer is planning to construct a 13-story, mixed-use property in The Heights section of Jersey City. 

The new building will be the neighborhood’s tallest structure at about 144 feet tall.

The project, located at 15 Nardone Place, will rise on an assemblage of six adjacent lots that are currently home to two low-rise commercial buildings, five multi-story residential structures, a gas station, and associated parking areas. 

The new development would replace all existing properties. According to plans, the structure will cover 351,847 square feet between two connected buildings that share a common podium. 

The project will create an Aloft-brand hotel with 305 guest rooms, 84 residential units, a ground-floor cafĂ©, a top-floor restaurant, as well as other amenities. 

Residential units will include nine three-bedroom apartments, 15 two-bedroom units, 48 one-bedroom units, and 12 studios. Indoor parking for approximately 143 vehicles will occupy the building’s podium level.

MVMK Architecture is the project designer, with developer 15 Nardone LLC coordinating the project’s construction.


Friday, November 22, 2019

29-Story Tower Planned for 430 Main St on Roosevelt Island

The Related Companies plan to build yet another tower on Roosevelt Island. 

This new project calls for a 29-story mixed-use building at 430 Main Street, located on the east side of the island near the Roosevelt Island subway station.

The developer is also responsible for the recently topped-off Riverwalk Park rental development on Roosevelt Island. 

This project, known as Riverwalk 9, is the ninth and final component in the nine-building Riverwalk rental complex.

The new structure will rise 298 feet tall and encompass 309,311 square feet, with 265,056 square feet designated for residential space and 3,744 square feet for commercial use. The building will have 365 rental apartments averaging 726 square feet each. 

Fourteen apartment units will be located on the second through 14th floors, with thirteen units each on floors 15 through 28. 



The building’s first floor will house offices; tenant recreational area, concierge and a dog wash room. Other building amenities will include a bike storage room, children's play room, tenant gym, yoga/stretching room, tenant lounge, two party rooms and outdoor roof terrace.

Riverwalk 9 is being designed by Handel Architects.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Two New Residential Towers Planned for East Side

310 East 86th Street 


Another playfully designed residential building is slated to begin construction at 310 East 86th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. 

Designed by ODA Architecture, the new building is reminiscent of the firm’s previous designs, which are characterized by expressive cubic features. 

The 68-unit tower will have a series of boxy setbacks and graceful cantilevers that will incorporate private outdoor spaces on the upper levels.

Plans called for a 21-story, 145,000-square-foot structure covering five neighboring parcels. 

Residential amenities include a music room, a laundry room, a children’s playroom, and a teen-oriented lounge. The building will also include ground floor retail space.

New 35-Story Residential Tower slated for Kips Bay


368 Third Avenue in Kips Bay will soon be the site of a new 35-story mixed-use residential tower. Located between East 26th Street and East 27th Street, the building is designed by SLCE Architects. 

Plans call for a 388-foot tall, 145,000-square-foot structure with 100 rental apartments, averaging around 1,110 square feet apiece.

The slender building will rise prominently over the surrounding low-rise structures, and allow it to be seen clearly from across the East River. 

Three to four apartments will cover floors 2 through 25, with two units per floor on the next six levels, and two penthouses on the top two floors. 

Amenities will feature a fitness room, a residential lounge, and a children’s playroom. The building will include 3,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

The property was formerly occupied by five pre-war structures that ranged from four to six stories high and housed 53 apartments which have been razed for the construction of the new tower.

Minrav Development purchased the site for $64 million and estimates a completion date in the fourth quarter of 2021. 

Friday, November 15, 2019

Major Addition Planned Atop One Madison Avenue

SL Green Realty plans a dramatic transformation for their existing 13-story office building at One Madison Avenue. 

Designed by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox, the plan calls for 18 new floors of Class-A office space, tenant amenities, and more than an acre of outdoor terraces built atop the existing building.

The present 13-story structure will first be reduced to nine floors to serve as a podium for the 18 new floors to be constructed above. 

Designed as a marquee glass tower, the new structure will have nearly 1.5 million square feet of rentable space, offering 60-foot column-free spans and 14-foot ceilings on each level. 


Private terraces overlooking Madison Square Park will be featured on the podium roof, at the 10th and 11th floors, and at the pinnacle of the new tower.

Also included as part of the redevelopment and expansion, are a revitalized lobby and entry areas, expanded retail space, a new auditorium, and additional events space.

The 1.1 million-square-foot granite building is fully leased by Credit Suisse, which will move out when its lease expires in December or next year. 



Construction is expected to begin in early-2021, following the expiration of tenant lease.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Lenox Hill’s $2.5-Billion Expansion Aims High

Lenox Hill Hospital is planning a colossal $2.5-billion expansion beginning with a new 41-story residential building on part of the hospital’s Upper East Side property. The 490-foot-tall condominium tower will sit on the corner of East 76th Street and Park Avenue and include about 200 units.  

A second 30-story tower will be built on the opposite Park Avenue corner at East 77th Street. 

The building will feature a new Mother-Baby Hospital, increasing the emergency room to nearly four times its current size to 56,000 square feet, as well as new operating rooms, and patient rooms. 

Plans call for a total of 1.3 million square feet, up from the hospital’s current 780,000 square feet at 100 East 77th Street.

Lenox Hill plans to build on its reputation for maternity care—BeyoncĂ© delivered her first child at the hospital in 2012—with a new Mother-Baby Hospital, which will have a separate Park Avenue entrance. The hospital will add labor and delivery suites and expand its neonatal intensive care unit.


Northwell is also building a block-long, 250,000-square-foot outpatient care facility on Third Avenue between 76th Street and 77th Street. That facility will include a cancer and ambulatory surgery center, as well as medical offices.



Off-street ambulance bays for six ambulances, larger, deeper loading docks, subway station improvements, an atrium and other publicly accessible spaces are also part of the ambitious project.

“Lenox Hill Hospital is one of the most storied institutions in Manhattan, serving communities throughout the city for over 160 years,” said Michael Dowling, president and chief executive officer of Northwell Health, adding that the residential tower was added to “offset costs for rebuilding the hospital.” 

"We have spoken to some of the top real estate people," Dowling said. "That building would throw off a substantial amount of money."  

Lenox Hill's campus occupies a city block from East 76th Street to East 77th Street between Lexington and Park avenues. Its campus is made up of 10 buildings—the newest one built in 1972.

The project will take an estimated six to eight years to complete, and has been broken up into three phases to allow for the continued operation of hospital facilities while the new development is constructed. 

Northwell Health expects to begin construction on the first tower next year. 

Since acquiring Lenox Hill Hospital in 2010, Northwell has spent more than $200 million on renovations. 

But to make the facility's patient rooms private, rather than multi-bed, and to add technology to its operating rooms, a more complete overhaul is needed. 

It will cost approximately $2.5 billion to completely rebuild the iconic Upper East Side institution, which was founded in 1857.

Northwell Health is the largest private employer in the state, with 68,000 employees. 

Friday, November 8, 2019

Mega $3.5B Waterfront Development Planned for Bronx

A massive $3.5 billion project to redevelop an industrial wasteland on the Eastern edge of The Bronx could soon begin construction. 

The project, known as Fordham Landing, will be located between the Harlem River and the Major Deegan Expressway, immediately adjacent to the University Heights Bridge. 

For decades, the vacant lot at 320 West Fordham Road in the Fordham section of Bronx has sat desolate on the Harlem River.

The enormous project will cover 5 million square feet, including office space, a mix of affordable and market rate apartments, a new hotel and conference center, community spaces, and 12 acres of open spaces.

Developer Dynamic Star is planning to construct several large towers on the site. One of these will hold a 700,000-square-foot Life Sciences Center for the gene therapy industry and offices. 

A total of 2,800 residential apartments are planned to be built under the 70/30 scheme, with 30 percent of units set aside as affordable and the rest as market rate. 

Additional offerings will include retail space, a hotel, a conference center, community spaces, and an e-sports stadium.

The project’s 12.5 acres of outdoor space will be transformed into a welcoming waterfront oasis with esplanades, playing fields, and water activities like kayaking. 

Additionally, a dilapidated cove between sections of the site would be turned into tidal gardens and wetlands with an urban beach and boathouse.

Fordham Landing would certainly have an impact on the surrounding community, which has not been forgotten in the plans. 

The site is very close to the University Heights Metro North stop, and improvements to the station are being planned. 

Additionally, a new K-5 elementary school is being planned for the local community.

A development this size 3 miles north from the current Port Morris/Mott Haven Harlem River Waterfront hot spot where thousands of units are planned or under construction simply demonstrates how eager developers are to develop anywhere there is sufficient land size in The Bronx.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

1,400-Foot Tower Planned For 401 Seventh Avenue

On the site of the Hotel Pennsylvania, at 401 Seventh Avenue, a massive 1,400-foot skyscraper called “Penn15” will soon occupy the small morsel of empty sky sandwiched between the Empire State Building and Hudson Yards.

Vornado Realty Trust has big plans to construct one of the largest office buildings in New York City, a massive 2.8-million-square-foot tower designed by Rafael Vinoly, rising more than 1,400-feet into the Midtown sky.

Contrary to recent reports, Facebook has no plans to occupy the new tower. 

The Internet giant has already committed to One Madison Avenue in Gramarcy Patrk, which ElectricWeb will spotlight in our next issue. 
  
Regardless, the new building design will be built around open floor plans and numerous outdoor spaces designed to lure technology tenants.

Variable stacked floor plates would be interspersed and cantilevered atop one another, with each of the tower’s five components totaling 560,000 square feet apiece.

Its design has been described by some commentators as a Jenga block tower, only made out of glass and green space instead of wood blocks.

The design of the base of the tower would be particularly elegant, featuring a terraced garden atop the first floor, and a soaring glass atrium in the middle of the structure. 

The new skyscraper will be both taller and bulkier than the Empire State Building, just a few blocks to the east.

While Penn15’s rooftop would stand 1,400 feet above street level, its interior will only include 48 usable floors, with 43 of those dedicated to office space. 

The bottom of the tower would span three floors, including the lobby, ground floor retail stores, conference space, a restaurant, and two theaters, one of which will accommodate up to 700 people.

The developer has long considered plans to renovate the 1919-vintage hotel with a major hotel company, convert it into a huge convention center and entertainment venue or demolish and replace it.

The famed Hotel Pennsylvania, at 15 Penn Plaza, and its 1,000 rooms has fallen victim to increasingly lurid headlines following its renovation. 

A baby’s death there earlier this year was ruled a homicide, there have been multiple suicides and accidental deaths at the property in recent  years, and Internet reviews are overwhelmingly terrible with many guests believing the hotel to be haunted.

Friday, November 1, 2019

In Memoriam: Matthew Gold

Matthew Gold, President of Midtown Electric Supply and personal friend, passed away peacefully on October 19th, 2019 surrounded by his loved ones. 

Matt is survived by his loving wife Inessa; his three daughters, Jessica, Stacey, and Rebecca; his stepson Andrew his 2 brothers, Tim and Jonathan and his mother Yvonne Gold; his 3 grandchildren and his nieces and nephews. He was a proud pet owner of Great Dane Lacey and Cockatoo Daisy. 

Matthew was born in Glen Cove in 1955 and grew up in Manhasset Hills, spending many winters living in Miami. 

He attended Herricks High School, graduating in 1973. Matthew graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Psychology. 

He was the President of Midtown Electric Supply for 27 years. He was also co-chairman of the Israel Bonds Electrical Industry Division for many years as well as being a board member of the UJA Electrical Industry Division. 

Matthew spent his years traveling the world, enjoying the outdoors, vacationing at his second home in Vermont, and enjoying beautiful sunsets at his home in Glen Cove. He had a big heart. 

Matthew was happiest when he was surrounded by his family and friends and will be missed by everyone he touched. He lived a full life. He bravely fought cancer for 15 months. Matthew's final days were spent at home surrounded by his family and loved ones. 

May his memory be a blessing for all who knew him. 

Donations can be made to Glen Cove Hospital, Northwell Health Foundation, in memory of Matthew Gold.